What Is Meta's 'Superintelligence' That Zuckerberg Is Hiring Personally For

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking a hands-on approach to one of tech's most ambitious frontiers: building artificial general intelligence (AGI). According to The New York Times and Bloomberg, Zuckerberg is personally assembling a new "superintelligence" team, offering eye-popping compensation packages that reportedly reach into nine figures, to create what could become the world's most advanced AI platform.

AGI, while still a theoretical concept, refers to AI that can outperform humans across a broad range of cognitive tasks. Many experts believe such capabilities may be decades away-- if possible at all -- but Zuckerberg is betting big on accelerating that timeline.

Frustrated with Meta's current pace of AI development, the tech billionaire has taken direct control of the project. Bloomberg reports that he's gone as far as inviting top recruits to his homes in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto, in a bid to woo them personally. He's also reorganised his office so that the new AI team, currently about 50 members strong, sits close to him.

Among the high-profile hires is Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, who is expected to play a leading role in a new Meta research lab focused on building AI systems with intelligence surpassing the human brain.

In a fierce race with rivals like OpenAI (creator of GPT-4) and Google DeepMind (developer of the Gemini models), Meta is offering massive compensation packages-ranging from high six figures to well into the nine-figure range-to lure top AI talent from across the industry. Some of these offers have already been accepted.

Zuckerberg's push signals not only a new phase for Meta but also intensifies the global competition to dominate the future of AI.